Post by Reyla on May 15, 2018 17:59:45 GMT -5

The clacking of Reyla's sandals on the bamboo flooring of the hallway was nearly lost in the cacophony of voices and other sounds that constantly echoed through the Fifth division headquarters, a cacophony that she was still unused to. In the third conversations between members were rarely held outside of closed doors, and the constant need for research, especially after the plague, had ensured that any other sources of ambient noise were cut off. Yet the fifth, even after having it's numbers decimated like everyone else had, seemed to pulse with the sounds of life. The ever present ringing of steel and bellowing of drill formations mixed with the constant rhythm of muffled conversation that seemed to emanate from everywhere at once.

It was nice.

Despite her academic bent, Reyla had always been a social creature, and as such she had always felt a bit stifled in the Third, though that had little to do with her transfer. She simply felt that she could do the most good by getting closer to the new recruits and being on more active combat duty than she could do cooped up in a lab whiling away years on spell variants.

Eventually her steps brought Reyla out of the halls of the barracks and across one of the Fifth division's many courtyards to the cubic structure that housed the officers of the squad. It only took her a moment to find the door she was looking for. Reyla stepped up to the door and knocked politely on the door of one Victoria Aeserninus. While she wasn't yet at officer level Reyla's abilities did put her ahead of the pack in terms of many of the other non officers of the fifth, and her ability to pay attention to fine details and keep track of paperwork, necessities of anyone doing advanced research, had landed her a spot as an assistant to the officer. If the rumors were to be believed Victoria was also on the fast track to becoming the new Lieutenant, so it would make sense that she would need an assistant.

Assuming that she didn't require said assistant to stay out of the front lines of course.

The sound of shuffling papers coming through the thin door broke Reyla out of her reverie, and with another deep breath she opened the door, ready to face her next challenge.

Post by Victoria on May 19, 2018 23:23:21 GMT -5

"Enter," came the word from behind the door.

The utterer of the word sat at her desk. She was young in appearance, perhaps just under thirty or there abouts, but her face and the exposed skin of her arms, neck and shoulder spoke of hard fighting. Burns covered much of the skin on the right side of the face and right arm and were only occasionally criss crossed by another scar or wound. Her shoulders were well defined with muscle though still slim enough to be perhaps a little feminine. Perched on her nose were small reading glasses, things of thin wire framing that served little if not to help ease her aching eyes when she had to read overly small hand written reports.

Licking her left hands middle finger she turned a report and read the abbreviated information contained on that page about the action the report pertained to. Signing off on it she tossed it into the ever growing pile of reviewed reports. She sighed. Normally this was the job of a team of unseated and unnumbered seated officers of varying grades and perhaps the lieutenant depending on the sensitivity of the mission the report. Now, all of those officers were Earth side commanding small teams in the defense of the territories that their people had spent centuries taking. This was what was needed though. This was what they had to do. The recruit and soldier numbers had finally stabilized in a way but the officer corp was still lacking.

She herself was caked in blood of her own and from their enemies. Mud spattered her uniform and the white bandages that covered her right shoulder. Even she was wounded and had seen heavy fighting. That had been her primary function for the past year or so. Rapid response reinforcement and search and rescue. More recently it had been search and rescue more often with a mix of rapid response. All of it reminding her of days in the assault squads. Those had been days when they'd gone looking for fights. Seeking out small bands of hollows and striking them hard and fast. Sending them off to their purification or damnation with quick and deadly strikes. Now, they simply waited on the defensive, something she hated terribly.

Removing the reading glasses she rubbed her eyes as the person entered her office. She'd be taking a nap in an hour she wagered towards the back of her office where she'd strung up a hammock and had a brazier behind a thick woolen blanket she'd found after being thrown through an old factory in Essex perhaps two years prior.

Post by Reyla on May 20, 2018 16:28:43 GMT -5

As Reyla walked in and closed the door behind her she took a moment to get a good look at the room that she was in. At first glance the room looked like a barely contained mess. There were papers everywhere and the only seat not covered by something was the one that her superior was currently using. First glances can often be deceiving however, and it wasn't long before Reyla began to see some kind of organization within the room. Each pile of papers, calling them stacks would have been to generous, seemed to be made up of related reports from what she could glean from the titles that she could see, and each area of the room seemed to be dedicated to a certain type of report. Reyla saw one area that was filled with reports about disciplinary incidents separated by squad, recon reports that were organized by country, and several other similar pockets of organized Chaos.

From what she could glimpse of what Victoria was currently working on it seemed that her new boss was currently dealing with action reports, and judging by her appearance it wouldn't surprise Reyla if one of those reports had been written by Victoria herself rather recently. While Reyla had seen the woman before, albeit only for a moment, she hadn't gotten a chance to really look at her, and now that she did she couldn't help but notice the road map of scars and burns that crisscrossed Victoria's body. Before the plague Reyla might have found those scars distasteful at best, but now? Now she felt that scars like that showed a kind of dedication and experience sorely needed in the Seiretei.

What stood out the most however, were the bandages wrapping up her right shoulder. They were clearly new, even with the various fluids that covered not only the bandages, but Victoria's entire uniform. That did cause Reyla to need to restrain herself from frowning and reaching out to sanitize the clothing. She had no problem with the blood and mud per se, and in fact she had been more than happy to find herself covered in it while in the heat of combat, but unless Victoria had only just come from a fight then Reyla felt there was no reason for her to not be wearing a clean uniform. Regardless Reyla held back, she didn't know how Victoria would react to comments about her attire, and as much as it might irk her Reyla wasn't stupid enough to risk her position over something like a dirty robe.

"Victoria Aeserninus? My name is Reyla Natori, I recently transferred from the Third and I've been assigned to work as your assistant both afield and in the office."

Post by Victoria on May 20, 2018 20:15:08 GMT -5

Scribbling her signature Victoria, with a much practiced flick, tossed the report she'd been reading when Reyla walked in into its corresponding pile. "I know who you are, Reyla," she said leaning back with a labored groan from sore muscles, "I'm the second signature on your transfer request to the fifth. Acting-Captain Ogawa is the first and I the second." Absently she rubbed her face smearing partly dried mud and still damp blood across her face. Sighing heavily she forced herself upright and extended her left hand, "Regardless, welcome to the Fifth division. As you can see just by looking around we're short handed and its worse off in the officer corp. While I have a staff of those recovering from injuries but are yet unable to be safely sent into combat to handle the filing and what not of these papers I could use a hand in the handling of their review and assembling data packets for squad leaders heading into heavily contested areas around the globe."

The ancient sat back down with stifled grunt before she continued, "As you can see, despite the best efforts of my staff I am up to my neck in paperwork. Add on top of that that I am often the first responder when a squads pinned down or a squad needs evacuation and I've got my hands full. So what you see." The blonde motioned about the room and then at herself briefly, "Is the end result." She frowned as she lowered her left hand to the table. "Duty comes before all things. Even if it means spending a couple days in the same filthy uniform."

Victoria had been about to say something else when her phone buzzed violently. Absently she scanned the contents of the message before putting the screen to sleep. "Looks like I, I mean we, have a combat hop to Oslo, Sweden. I'll explain our duties further as we walk towards the gate," she said as she stood and made her way around the desk.

Post by Reyla on May 20, 2018 21:25:09 GMT -5

While her expression remained stoic Reyla couldn't help but flinch inwardly, she couldn't tell whether or not Victoria had somehow picked up on her distaste as to Victoria's uniform, but regardless she still took the words as a reprimand of sorts. Reyla wasn't a stranger to going long periods of time working on something without being able to take care of herself like she would like to, and from the tone of Victoria's voice she wasn't happy about her current state either. Regardless, that wasn't important anymore as it looked like they were both going to get covered in grime of some sort.

As she followed Victoria towards the Senkaimon Reyla began to wonder what exactly their 'combat hop' was going to entail, or more specifically who they'd be fighting. If a high ranking officer such as Victoria was being called in as an emergency then the situation likely either involved an attempt at rescue or the retrieval of a dead squad and their information. The real question was if they were dealing with Hollows or Quincies. It was most likely that they'd be combating Hollows, and likely a large group of weaker specimens lead by a few stronger individuals. Given what Reyla knew of Victoria's power, mostly that it was far beyond her own, that likely mean Adjuchas or low ranking Arrancar.

However Sweden was very much inside of what was traditional Quincy territory, namely Europe. As such it was possible that a group of Quincy had pinned down a squad of Shinigami for some reason or another, possibly due to the weakened presence of Shinigami after the plague. There was also the possibility of spiritualists or Fullbringers, but that was even less likely than a group of Quincy making an overt attack and giving their targets time to send out a distress signal.

No, the most likely answer was Hollows, but it never hurt to be prepared, and following that train of thought Reyla spoke up, "Is this retrieval, rescue, or other ma'am?"

Post by Victoria on May 24, 2018 22:02:58 GMT -5

"I'm unsure," she said as they moved through the relatively empty building. "A squads gone silent. They managed to get out a distress call with their rough coordinates but nothing about what attacked them or their status. Chances are they're alive yet scattered and simply going dark to keep themselves from being picked off while attempting to meet at a pre-determined rally point. Or." She didn't say the rest. It could be inferred. A grim smile crossed her lips.

That man and given her his word that his people would do nothing to her people. As proven time and time over a shinigami could not trust the words of a quincy. Victoria had seen such words come back and bite into the ass of her people too many times. She'd been of the opinion for centuries that during the last purge they shouldn't have stopped till they were completely certain that the quincy people had been eradicated. Privately she had spoken about how given the chance the quincy would become a thorn in their collective side. Victoria's words had proven true many times since the last purge. Perhaps it was the environment she'd grown in as a human and then as a shinigami that gave Victoria such a grim view of people as a whole. It didn't matter, the Quincy, if it was them this time, were a thorn that needed to be removed and disposed of completely.

Reaching the senkaimon she stopped and looked at Reyla. "You've never deployed with me before so I'll make this quick. I'm point. I go in first and I get out last. Shit gets too heavy you fall back and I'll give you cover till you're clear. We're going to do this clean. If we can make contact with any living survivors their extraction is priority. Any dead we find we take their steel and identification numbers and mark their corpse. Once the area's cooled we'll send in a recovery team to reclaim the dead. If this is the work of hollows we kill their leadership first. The rest will break once their leaders been dispatched making their disposal much easier. If it's Quincy same rules apply. No survivors," Victoria's words were spoken with the practiced measure of someone who'd said them almost infinitely. Their meaning was clear. 'If it stands against us, it dies.'

Turning back to the gate operator she gave a nod. The gate flickered to life and stabilized and the blonde beast stepped through. Another day. Another emergency deployment. Another potential blood bath.

Post by Reyla on May 26, 2018 19:20:19 GMT -5

And what if there are quincies there who aren't responsible but merely- no. Even if I believe that we should be less suspicious and willing to strike against the other factions there's no way I would believe that a group of quincies, let alone Hollow breeds, would be anywhere nearby and be innocent in this. "Understood." As she followed Victoria Reyla couldn't help but frown for just a moment, in all honesty she was used to taking point in any combat missions that got thrown her way, even if that was simply because during the rare times, or rare before the plague at least, that members of the third got sent out to fight she was one of the very few actually willing to wade in without many reservations. Unfortunately her own experiences beside she could clearly tell that Victoria outclassed her by a significant amount in experience, power, and likely skill.

No, the best option was to have Victoria proceed as point, that being said Reyla still didn't like the idea of someone else going in unprotected, no matter how strong they were. For a while Reyla was silent, though she did speak up when they reached the Senkaimon. As she pulled out Majo no Tsuki Reyla got her superior's attention. Superior, it feels strange to be forced to think of someone that way, regardless of my own thoughts. I suppose I'll have to deal with it for now. "Ma'am, before we go in would you like me to place a self contained Bakudo on you? I could create a thin barrier that exists just above your skin and moves with you. Due to it's flexibility it wouldn't be as powerful as one of my normal barriers, but it would still provide decent protection."

Post by Victoria on May 28, 2018 20:32:00 GMT -5

Victoria turned and smiled slightly at the younger female. Barely known each other an hour and concerned for her safety already. Letting the smile tug at the scars on the right side of her face Victoria reached out and put a hand on Reyla's shoulder. "I'd usually say no," she began letting the smile spread completely across her face, "But I suppose if it'll make you feel a bit better about me taking point at my present state then go ahead."

She could understand the concern. Covered in mud, blood and scrapes and bruises Victoria knew she was a site to behold. Add to those aforementioned injuries and physical appearance traits her still mending right shoulder she was probably the very picture of a person who was physically unready for combat. If it was anyone else, and the entire division knew this, she would have stopped them from deploying in such a state. Yet, her pride and knowledge of having seen combat with worse wounds wouldn't allow someone else to step in and fill her place. She would march to war till she was unable to get her feet under her or till Ogawa stopped her from deploying.

Slowly she flexed her right hand. The pulling of the tendons that controlled it made her shoulder hurt. That was something the third had told would be normal for it as it healed. She'd make a full recovery they said so long as she gave it time to heal. Time, as with many things, were in short supply at present.

Post by Reyla on May 29, 2018 20:37:17 GMT -5

Reyla forced herself to push past her pride, even if the older woman hadn't meant to her words came across as patronizing, and Reyla's ego didn't take well to that. Unfortunately Reyla had to admit that her ego wasn't the most important thing at the moment, that and she knew that the woman wasn't brushing aside her offer, even if she clearly felt that such precautions were unnecessary. That would probably be a common theme if Reyla was any judge.

Regardless Reyla could take her frustration out whenever they made contact with the enemy, assuming the enemy hadn't already left anyway.

Reyla nodded and stepped back a bit, allowing Victoria's hand to fall off of her shoulder. "Alright, this will only take a moment." Reyla reached out and placed one finger on Victoria's chest. In an instant a list of several applicable barriers ran through Reyla's mind, but in the end she decided on a combination spell that would not only add a bit of extra protection but also reinforce her striking ability with lightning in order to help compensate for her wounded arm. "Bakuhado number 82, Denki Shoheki." As the name of the spell passed from Reyla's lips a blue light pulsed down her finger and into Victoria, a glowing band of energy rippling across Victoria's person before slowly fading away. The barrier would be able to withstand the force of a large number of blows, and on contact, either defensively or offensively, the barrier would also release a large jolt of electricity into the victim, something that Reyla decided to keep to herself, for now.

"That should hold throughout the mission. Now I believe we should get moving."

Post by Victoria on Jun 3, 2018 20:54:29 GMT -5

In her time as a wearer of the black and whites she had experienced the gamut of spells. Binding spells, attack spells, shielding spells, and healing spells. Each felt different to her. This spell felt different than all the others. Defensive barriers, or the ons she'd run into most often at least, felt sort of warm. That was until you struck them in anger. Hado spells felt however the element they summoned their power from felt normally. Hot, cold, tingly, etc. Bala's felt hard and cero's burned. Sometimes they too had some sort of element behind them besides the fury many felt. It really depended on the individual user of such techniques.

The barrier, if one wanted to call it that, was clinging to her a bit like a body glove. So perhaps calling it an over shield was better? Hard to say really, but one thing she was certain about. This whatever it was called felt fuzzy to her. Not like itchy fuzzy or ticklish fuzzy but more along the lines of a blanket. Victoria wasn't sure if she enjoyed this feeling. That didn't matter as she stepped through the gate.

It was dark as they dropped onto the roof of a building several hundred meters away from where the last distress beacon had been received. Victoria kept herself low as she moved away from the portal. Taking a deep intake of breath she tried to discern what if anything was in their immediate vicinity. Nothing, so to speak. A few mundanes rattling about some distance off. The trace remains of energies released during the clash of steel and fervor. Her ancient eyes narrowed as she peered out over the city scape. Something wasn't right. If there had been some form of combat in the area there should have been more energy still in the air than what there was. Had the squad been overwhelmed that quickly? Motioning Reyla over she stood to her full height.

"This is strange. If the squad had engaged here, one would expect to find more traces of the engagement be they physical or the dissipating energies from spells or abilities," Victoria continued to scan the scene before she moved forward and dropped from the building, "Its possible, though I don't want it to be true, that they were destroyed before they could really react. Or... they went ghost and have scattered. What do you think Reyla?

Post by Reyla on Jun 5, 2018 20:48:32 GMT -5

As Reyla stepped up beside Victoria she spread her own senses out and frowned. While Victoria could clearly feel something in the area the traces were to faint for Reyla to detect, indicating that there hadn't been much of a fight. Even someone with as little skill in detection as herself would be able to pick out signs of a battle, not to mention as she looked out over the buildings she could see no damage. Reyla's eyes narrowed as she took all of this in, even the lightest of conflicts between Shinigami, Hollows, or Quincies resulted in some form of physical damage on the landscape, something that caused no shortage of frustration for those in charge of keeping the existence of the spirit realm a secret from the living masses. Possibilities ran through Reyla's mind, but only a few stood out.

"I think we were lured. There are next to no signs of spiritual battle here, that makes me think that the call was sent out fraudulently either by an enemy using the device or tricking a single remaining Shinigami into sending the signal for them. A Hollow, or group of them, could have trapped the squad in their world with a garganta and chased a lone survivor out at this location to force their hand, or Quincy could have killed the squad elsewhere and set the signal. I'm betting on Hollows though, Quincy can't do anything without leaving their spiritual footprints behind, Hollows often have claws and teeth that could kill without the need for spiritual abilities to get involved."

Reyla looked at Victoria, and more importantly her injury, out of the side of her eye. "Especially if they knew they could get you here and knew that you were wounded somehow."

Post by Victoria on Jun 10, 2018 15:44:45 GMT -5

"An interesting theory Reyla," the blond said as she began heading in what appeared to be a random heading. "There could be some merit to that. The hollow attacks, when they hit in groups, lately have been far more organized. Less hap hazard and easily contained as if they know which targets are best for the effort. Oslo isn't an area I would consider attacking with the Quincy numbers being what they are here. Though if the leadership has gotten better they could be scouting out targets before hitting them for weeks in advance."

Bouncing onto the roof of another building Vic continue to wander forward. Her general heading was towards where the beacon had been activated. If this was an ambush it changed little in her opinion. The enemy could rush them, whoever or whatever that enemy appeared to be, and die like every other enemy that had tried that tactic in recent centuries.

"The missions the same regardless the potential dangers. If we were lured we'll kill whatever tries to pick us off," Victoria said as they moved towards the beacon slowly, "Worrying about who or what may be pulling the strings here isn't going to change the fact that an emergency beacon is live and we were sent to figure out what happened to its owners. I don't like walking into a potential trap either but if not us who else do we send? If need be, we cut a hasty retreat and make a run for a quiet section that'll give us time to evacuate. And if we have to we fight our way out."

They'd closed to within one hundred meters of the beacons location. Victoria lowered herself into a crouch and placed her left hands finger tips on the roof of the building and slowed her breathing. Perhaps, she could feel out any living creatures that may be inside? Maybe she'd be able to filter out any spiritualist signatures from any mundane people that may be in these massive warehouses. "Now, where are you?" she muttered.

Post by Reyla on Jun 12, 2018 14:30:10 GMT -5

As she followed Victoria across the rooftops a frown fought its way onto Reyla's lips. I'll agree that large hollow movements wouldn't be terribly likely in areas with high concentrations of Quincy they'd be much better suited to pull off a covert strike. Hollows have natural weapons such as claws and teeth to attack with, while Quincy can't so much as sneeze without blasting reishi everywhere. Not to mention the ability for a quick extraction with a garganta would be quite a safety net. Regardless the perpetrator matters less than the situation at the moment.

"I didn't intend to imply that the mission had changed, simply that we should be prepared for an ambush."In all honesty that might make this a bit more fun. As Reyla's blood-lust began to stir a grin of anticipation made its way across her features. That grin fell away into a look of grim determination as the pair got closer to the beacon's location, at this distance even Reyla was beginning to pick up on the faint signs of battle, signs that as they'd both noticed were far to sparse to indicate the kind of battle that would result in a squad calling for back up. What was truly frustrating however was the fact that Reyla still couldn't pick out what type of beings had actually left the traces behind, the signatures were to faint and spread to thinly for her to be able to garner any useful information.

Reyla came to a crouch just behind and to the left of Victoria and silently drew Majo no Tsuki as she tensed for whatever would happen, even if by some miracle they found the team still alive she didn't trust the situation at all.

Post by Victoria on Jun 17, 2018 19:44:26 GMT -5

"You misunderstand my statement," Victoria began without looking at Reyla, "The statement is to be taken as saying, 'Don't worry about it.' Frankly, if this is an ambush I doubt that when whatever is thinking of ambushing us gets a wiff of our strength it'll turn and run the other way." She took in a deep breath. "There is the possibility that the beacon simply got left behind somewhere and someone who could see it began fiddling with it and this is just a case of a false beacon," she said before moving off the roof and beginning to search around for the beacon. Searching the area with a brief glance the blonde shinigami spent several moments stating into dark doorway before looking up at Reyla.

"Lets see if we can find that beacon. The least we can do is recover the tech if nothing else," she said before Reyla dropped to the ground. Pulling the younger female in close Victoria whispered as quietly as was possible. "We're being watched from that door behind me. I can't figure out what it is so we're going to pretend its not there on the off chance it makes a move." She released the younger female before she began moving various objects about while being careful to keep her back to the doorway behind her.

Post by Reyla on Jun 18, 2018 14:58:32 GMT -5

As Victoria rushed ahead after attempting to reassure her Reyla couldn't help but glance at Victoria's arm which was still clearly wounded. I somehow doubt that they'd run, I might be wrong but I can't shake the feeling that whoever's out here knows about your arm and is trying to take advantage of your perceived weakness. At least I hope it's simply perceived. As Reyla moved to follow Victoria her thoughts turned to the possibility that Victoria mentioned of a false beacon activated by a human who just happened to be able to see spiritual constructs. The explanation felt hollow to her and she somehow doubted that any Shinigami would risk the wrath of their superiors by leaving a beacon behind like that, especially given that the Seireitei couldn't afford to treat any distress signal with anything but the utmost urgency given the state of their numbers.

Reyla was mildly surprised to be pulled aside by Victoria, but she didn't let it show as her superior informed her of the presence beyond the door behind them. On hearing the news Reyla fought back the urge to grip her blade tighter, though she had no doubt that if their watcher wasn't suspicious of them before they definitely would be now after seeing Victoria pull her aside and whisper to her after they'd been talking freely not half a minute beforehand. Not that Reyla could afford to bring that fact up without further alerting their tail about their awareness, so instead she just steeled herself mentally and prepared for a fight as they kept searching for the beacon, pretending not to notice the feeling of eyes on their backs.

Post by Victoria on Jul 14, 2018 23:35:17 GMT -5

"I've not needed one of these things in centuries. Are they still cylindrical?" she asked in earnest. When she deployed now very rarely did she ever find herself grabbing a rescue becon. She was normally the one doing the rescuing it seemed these days and as these things went it was completely possible that the pattern they used was different than what she remembered. Rummaging about in the human debris that was nearly everywhere it seemed she carefully and very gently reached out towards the being that was watching them. She did this carefully as she didn't wish for it, whatever it could be, to realize she was attempting to touch it's aura to discern what it was and therefore its probably intent.

Carefully the tendril, thats what she imagined it to be as she rummaged about in the mess humans always made, reached out and touched the being. It was young, maybe just shy of seventeen, a child compared to even Reyla who was significantly younger than herself. Gently she wrapped the tendril about the child feeling the spiritual power within it. Weak but not dismiss able but perhaps not strong enough to be a threat that didn't however rule out that this was a scout. Hard to say the kind with it being as weak as it was. Still, they couldn't let the chance get away that this youngster may have information in regards to their missing brethren. Releasing the tendril, the child seemed to not have noticed it thus far, Victoria checked the distance. She was just fast enough she wagered to change the distance and drive this child to the floor or restrain them in some other manner.

She was gone in the exact moment the child blinked and was in front of them and hoisting them clear of the ground by the front of their shirt. "I've caught our watcher Reyla," she called in a rather sing song voice over her shoulder. Before walking the young human outside with their feet clear of the ground. Stopping in the middle of the alleyway, or road rather as it was wider than what most would all an alleyway, she smiled softly before dropping into Swedish, "I do apologize for the rather rough treatment I've given you thus far but I need to speak to you about something gravely important. I should warn you however, that should you lie to me and I discover that you have I will cease to ask you questions and I will employ methods designed to take information from you by force. Do I have your word that you will not make me have to use these methods?"

The young human nodded as they clung to her single wrist their toes barely touching the ground.

"Good," she said with a smile before setting the human down on the ground but maintaining her grip on its shirt, "A group of people dressed like us went missing around here roughly an hour or so ago. Did you happen to see them? These are our friends and we'd like to make sure they're safe. Any information you may have will..." She paused as her sense picked up something nearby. It was spiritual, not shinigami or hollow but definitely human, and approaching them carefully. Then it split into two groups. Interesting... this child was bait it seemed or perhaps these people had come looking for the beacon as well? "Reyla, make ready for combat. It appears we'll have company before I finish speaking with our little friend here. They're human but that doesn't mean we can't engage. They throw can throw the first stone lets just be sure we shatter their glass houses."

Victoria returned her attention to their young friend. "Now, as I was saying. We're looking for people dressed like us. Have you seen a group of roughly five people wearing clothing similar to ours?"

"Yes," the person responded giving away their gender and answer. Female, though androgynous in appearance. Perhaps by choice or perhaps by genetics the reason didn't matter.

"How long ago?"

"Maybe, forty five minutes ago?"

"What was their appearance like? Was anyone of them visibly hurt?"

"One was, but I only saw three of them. One was yelling into something in their ear in a strange language."

"Only three? Did you get a look at what was chasing them?"

Shifting her grip to the young females back Victoria hoisted her in front of her and clear of the ground forming a human shield before she could answer. Their guests had arrived and this girl would be their bargaining chip if they needed one. Victoria wasn't about to see this child hurt if she could do anything about it but that wasn't something their new friends needed to know. Carefully Victoria adjusted her grip and shifted her right arm.

"That's far enough!" she barked into the shadows her eyes picking up their forms in the low light somewhat better than the normal human eye could. "Come into the light and identify yourselves!"